Girl dies after tug-of-war event in Chennai school
Incident happened only a few minutes before the prize distribution ceremony
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-08-29 05:01 GMT
Chennai: A school sports day function turned tragic after a class 12 student collapsed and died after a tug-of-war competition at a ground in Ambattur on Friday. The incident happened only a few minutes before the prize distribution ceremony. The victim, B.Asha is a class 12 commerce student at Ebenezer Jagannath Marcus Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Ram Nagar, Ambattur.
On Friday afternoon, sports day celebration was held at a ground in Venkateshwara Nagar outside the school premises, police said. Around 11.30 am, Asha was leading her house team in the final event — tug-of war — when she collapsed to the ground after winning it, a police officer said.
Teachers and parents who witnessed Asha collapse on the ground tried to administer first aid after which she was rushed to a nearby private hospital by the chief guest for the event, TN Special Police II battalion Assistant Commandant Vasantha, police said.
Doctors at the hospital declared Asha brought dead after which she was moved to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. Investigatons revealed that the girl has been studying at the school since class 4.
“According to one of her friends, the girl had a health complication and did not participate in any events and the tug of war was the only event she participated in,” an investigating officer told DC.
Police said that the relatives’ grouse was that the ground where the function was held was away from the school premises and there were no paramedic team on standby.
A representative of the school too maintained that the girl was unwell and the girl’s parents themselves had taken her home twice from school in the past month after she fell sick.
“There have been versions about the girl’s health. But, the fact is that the incident happened in front of teachers and parents. We would pursue the investigations based on what the post mortem results reveal on the cause of the girl’s death,” the investigating officer added. Ambattur Police have registered a case under section 174 of CrPC (Unnatural death) and are investigating.